The present invention pertains to apparatus for carrying stores aboard and for launching stores from a submerged vehicle. More particularly, the invention pertains to such apparatus wherein the stores are contained in a capsule of selected shape which is releasably attached to the vehicle outside the pressure hull thereof.
Certain weapons, such as the harpoon missile, are carried aboard submarines by enclosing them in buoyant capsules, which in turn are carried in recesses in a hydrodynamically streamlined pod or fairing, the fairing being mounted upon the pressure hull of the submarine. To launch a weapon from a submarine while submerged, a hatch sealing the recess in which the weapon is carried is opened, whereupon the capsule enclosing the weapon is released into the surrounding water and propelled to the surface by its own buoyancy. In the case of the harpoon missile, the missile is fired from the buoyant capsule when the capsule reaches the surface or a specified distance therefrom. It may be noted that other stores, such as communications equipment or a decoy target, may also be launched from a submerged submarine by means of such capsules.
At present, most buoyant capsules are of circular cross-section and are received into fairing recesses which are covered or sealed by movable doors or hatched of curved shape. Generally, such hatches are fairly heavy and require heavy foundations, which serves to increase the top-side weight of a submarine employing them. Substantial power may be required to open the hatches in order to launch or release a capsule, and if the hatches are opened into the slip-stream of the submarine, they increase drag thereupon. The hatches must be pivoted about hinges, and may require complicated latching mechanisms, all of which is subject to wear through repeated use.
In addition, some designs for capsules of circular cross-section have been found to be of insufficient buoyancy and hydrodynamic stability for certain applications.